“A few times. It is the way my father and I used to take to the mountains.” I could actually see the brightness in Larna’s face dim as she remembered her father. Her cheerful expression turned dull. Instinctively, I reached out and touched Larna’s hand. She paused and then tightened her fingers around mine. We kept walking, our hands still clasped together.
“How long until we reach the top?” I asked.
“Three days. We would go faster if we changed.”
“But we would not be able to carry clothes or food. I don’t think the rebels would appreciate us barging in to their camp naked.”
Larna bumped her hip against mine playfully. “They might. Two young, attractive females wandering naked in to camp…”
“They would enjoy it, until you tore their eyes out for looking.”
I turned to the side, studying my lover’s profile. The lines of her face were strong, but gentle. She was so young, I realized, startled by the thought. Larna was probably the same age as me, certainly no older than twenty. It did explain her shy, fumbling moments in our relationship. I found them endearing. Somehow, our connection felt so ancient that I forgot how young both of us were.
“I didna think about nakedness much when I joined the Farseer pack,” Larna said slowly, breaking my concentration. “But after… when you came to stay with us, I hated the way they were looking at you.”
“They?”
“There were a few.” Larna frowned at the memory. “You are very beautiful. I am sure some of it was curiosity.”
“Curiosity?”
“They wanted to know if your wild red curls were the same all the way down.”
My mouth made a surprised ‘o’ and my cheeks felt very warm. Many Amendyri had red hair and freckles just like mine. I never considered them unique or attractive traits. Larna had a way of highlighting my mundane features that made me feel special. “Larna!” I slipped my hand out of hers and nudged her shoulder. She held her hands up to offer a truce.
“I was teasing! I wondered, but I dinna think anyone else was having those thoughts. You always turn around in front of the others anyway.”
“And you always stand in front of me.” Now it was Larna’s turn to blush. “It’s all right, Tuathe. It is sweet of you to defend my virtue… even though you already compromised it.”
Larna looked startled for a moment, but her face relaxed into a warm smile. “You called me Tuathe,” she said dreamily, reaching for my hand again.
“I never called you that before? Maybe only in my head.”
“Me too,” Larna said happily. “Maybe now… we can say it out loud.”
I gave Larna’s hand a gentle squeeze. “That would be perfect.”
As we wove our way through the trees, picking over the rocks and dirt, we came to a cluster of dry, tangled branches. I pressed my hand against the scraped, wrinkled bark of a tree to rest. Larna was just ahead, pushing past the branches and making her way steadily through the thick undergrowth.
“How much longer are we going to have to do this?” I asked, scrambling after her to regain the ground I had lost.
“Not too much longer,” Larna said in a cheerful voice. She did not seem to be bothered by the uneven ground and the branches and leaves closing in all around us. “Soon, we will find the path.”
“There’s a path?” I asked, trying not to sound upset. For the past day, I had thought we were lost, with only the tops of the mountains to keep us going in the right direction. “Why are we wandering around in the thickest part of the forest, then?”
“I knew we would be finding it eventually.”
“You should have told me,” I grumbled, crunching behind Larna. The ground was too full of rolls and bumps and stones to walk on properly. I was sick of it.
For another three minutes, we traipsed onward, pushing our way through the dry winter undergrowth, clearing space to pass through. I brushed away some loose strands of hair that were clinging to my forehead and saw Larna let out a cry of excitement. “Ah! Here!”
I hurried forward. In front of us was a narrow, flat path stretching off into the trees. I stepped onto it, kicking at the dirt with the toe of my boot. I was still irritated with Larna, but being on flat ground soothed my nerves.
“Shall we go then?” Larna’s excited smile softened my heart. She had no idea that I was mad at her. Or had been. I could never stay angry with her for long. I nodded and we followed the path.
…
Chapter Two:
The forest path led us in a straight line for two days. It was not until the fourth day that anything interesting happened at all. The land began sloping upwards and the trees were thinning out. Soon, we were in the mountains. It happened more gradually than I expected. The forest seemed to stretch up along the sides of the Rengast, at least on the lower slopes, blending the two landscapes together.
We had already been walking for a good part of the morning when we reached a fork in the road. One path led to the left, winding off into the trees until it was buried under scattered piles of leaves. The other path led to the right, stretching up and up, and it was well traveled.
“Which path should we take?” I asked, looking to Larna for a decision. She did not answer. Instead, she lifted her nose and sniffed the air, her wide brown eyes reflecting the light and taking in every small movement around us.
“There are men behind those trees up ahead,” she whispered.
I looked hard, but could not see anything. “How do you know?” I whispered back.
“Smell.” I sniffed the air, sifting through the usual scents of wood, leaves, and cold air. Beneath them was something else. There were men in the forest! Not just one, a group of them. They had animals with them and I did not recognize the scent. They smelled a little like horses or livestock.
“Bicorns,” Larna explained, answering my unspoken question. Bicorns were the horses of the mountains. With two horns on their heads, one in front of the other, and cloven hooves, they were as surefooted as rams. They were excellent at carrying humans and their supplies up and down the mountains.
“Do the men see us?”
“I dinna think so.”
“What should we do?” I asked.
Larna smiled, showing teeth. “I think we should play a game.”
“If we get killed, it’s your fault,” I said flatly.
Moving quickly and quietly, my tall lover left the path and melted into the trees. I copied her, but not without one last backward glance over my shoulder at the path. “Strip,” Larna ordered when we were far enough away. “It seems that two young, attractive females will be wandering in to a rebel camp sooner than we thought.”
Both of us pulled at our clothes, loosening ties and pulling at buttons. Soon, we were naked and changing in to our other bodies. It was easy now, I reflected, scratching at my chin with a hind paw. I felt comfortable with the fur and muscle.
Larna moved her head to say, Come, and I padded softly behind her, rolling the joints in my feet the way she had taught me. Silently, we stalked back up the road, staying behind the trees this time. The scent of men was stronger now. I wondered why I did not notice it earlier.
Larna’s tail stiffened and her nose pointed towards a large pine with several small, craggy rocks around it. There, her eyes said. Without looking at each other, we split in two different directions to approach the circle of men hiding behind the tree.
There were ten of them altogether, eight swordsman and two archers. All wore simple leather armor and carried supplies. The land dipped down briefly behind the pine tree, leaving a wall of dirt and leaves just high enough for a man to rest his back against – which was what most of the group had decided to do. There were ten Bicorns as well, but they were not as oblivious as their humans. They scented us immediately and began tossing their heads, aware that predators were near.
Larna’s dark form was crouched on the other side of the group, only thirty feet away from me. Her muscles were not tensed and her tail h
ung low. She did not consider these men a threat. When she broke from the shelter of the trees, I copied her.
Immediately, the ten men scrambled to attention, grabbing for their weapons. The archers nocked arrows to their bows. The Bicorns reared, panicking. Fortunately, their reins were tied and none of them broke free. For a moment, I thought Larna had made a mistake and they were going to shoot us on sight. One of the men stepped out of the line and raised his hand. “Stand down. These are not wolves.” The archers lowered their bows, reluctantly. The Bicorns were still distressed and one of the archers hurried to calm them.
“What do you want?” the man asked, addressing us. He had streaks of silver in his hair and a scar on his cheek. His legs were like thick tree trunks.
Without embarrassment, Larna changed. She did not seem bothered by her nakedness. Truthfully, the men were in such awe that they hardly noticed. It was clear from their shocked faces that none of them had seen a Wyr change before. “You are Jett Bahari’s men,” she said, gesturing at them. It was a statement, not a question.
“Why do you want to know?” said the man, shifting his barrel of a chest as he touched the hilt of the dagger resting on his hip.
“They are spies!” a voice shouted. Another man came forward, clunking in a pair of large metal boots that were far too big for him and totally impractical for walking around in the forest. Larna almost laughed at him, but managed to bite her lip in time.
“We are not spies, we are here to join you,” she said.
“How do we know you are telling the truth?” the foolish man said accusingly.
“Who else would come here?”
“Spies,” he said again. One or two of his companions nodded, but the rest of them stayed quiet. They seemed almost resentful of the man with the boots. He certainly did not act like a proper soldier.
“We are not spies,” Larna repeated calmly.
“Wyr are dangerous! You should have shot them on sight!” cried the man in the boots, flailing his hands at the silver-haired giant.
“They are not puppets of the witch. They would have attacked instead of showing themselves. She changed to speak to us,” he gestured at Larna.
The man with the metal boots glared at him. “Get back in line,” he spluttered, his purple cheeks shaking with rage. “I am supposed to lead this division.”
“It isna a division, Teb, it be a scouting party, and you are only leader because you were drawing the short straw.”
Teb, the man with the metal boots, still seemed uneasy, throwing suspicious glances at us before turning to address his ragtag troops. “We will question them further,” he said.
“Jett Bahari will question them,” said the large man. “He will know what to ask. We will take them to him.”
“They could be friends of the witch or the Queen,” Teb insisted, his flushed face turning an even deeper shade of purple. “You want to lead them right to our camp!”
A man wearing a green cap laughed. “And how many spies have we seen in all these months, Teb?”
“None,” another man called out from the line before Teb could speak. “Let’s just take them to camp so we can eat.”
“Fine, we will take them,” Teb agreed sourly, grunting and clanking in a circle until he was facing up the road. “Alright, everyone, get moving.” Reluctant to follow Teb’s impolite orders, but eager to get to the camp so that they could eat, the men started up the path.
“We canna come with you,” Larna called. The procession stopped.
“You will follow us!” said Teb, looking angry.
“Naked?” Larna raised one eyebrow, a trick that I envied. “Without our supplies?”
Teb swallowed nervously, noticing that Larna was naked for the first time. I was too shy to change out of my wolf form. He did not seem sure what to make of us. Apparently, his pompous display of leadership was all for show.
“Where did you leave your things?” asked the giant man.
“A few hundred yards that way.” Larna pointed into the trees. The man headed off in the direction that she pointed. The rest of the group followed. Teb was last, muttering about spies and suspicious behavior and traps the whole way, his metal boots clanking raucously.
…
After we put on our clothes and traveling packs, which seemed to make the men more comfortable, we followed the rebels higher into the mountains. The forest thinned out, and soon we were climbing past craggy rocks. I felt my thighs and back burn with the effort of trudging uphill, but it was not entirely unpleasant. I wished for a moment that we had Bicorns to ride, but we did not have trouble keeping up. Our gift – or curse – made us stronger.
Larna did not seem bothered by the physical strain. There was one advantage to walking behind my lover – I did get a good, long look at her backside. I noticed the way the small of her back curved when she navigated a particularly steep bit of slope. Even on the Bicorns, the men hurried to push in front of us whenever we took the lead.
“They shouldna turn this in to a competition,” she said, sounding amused as she watched the rebels pass us once again. Only the large man kept his Bicorn at a steady pace. “They are foolish and prideful. They will tire their mounts.”
“I don’t know,” I said, giving Larna a sidelong look. “Some females I know can be very prideful and foolish, sometimes, too.” My Tuathe just rolled her eyes and pretended not to hear me.
We walked through the hottest part of the day – which was still very cold, now that we were in the mountains – but stopped early, before the sun had finished setting. “We must post a guard on them tonight,” said Teb, “to make sure they do not try to run away.”
“If they run away, how will they find our camp?” asked one of the men, countering the frustrated little leader. “They have to come with us if they want to see Jett Bahari.”
“Posting guards on them willna do any good,” the giant pointed out. “They are Wyr, they can overpower us.”
Teb complained and tried to bully the others in to seeing things his way, but eventually, he gave up and sat down while the rest of the men began building a fire and laying out rough sleeping blankets. “How much food do you have left?” Larna asked, knowing the small packs that we all carried could not hold much.
“Enough to last until we reach the top of the mountain, if we are being careful,” said the old, silver-haired giant.
“My mate and I will bring meat,” said Larna, phrasing it as a polite offer.
“Your mate?” Teb, who had been eavesdropping, looked surprised, and a little too interested in our conversation. His attention made my stomach tie itself in knots. Larna sensed my displeasure, even from several yards away. She glared at Teb, warning him to stop talking. One threatening look convinced the bumbling rebel to stay silent.
“It would be good to have fresh meat,” said the large man, pointedly ignoring Teb. He held out his hand to Larna, then to me. His large fingers swallowed mine. “I was never telling you my name. I am Jerico.”
“My name is Larna. This is Cate.”
We talked for a few more moments before Larna and I went off into the forest to find meat. Now that we were higher in the mountains, there was less game to be found. There were no large herds of deer, only a few scruffy goats and some wild rabbits. We did manage to bring down a tough old ram, although he almost knocked my skull with his horns.
When we brought the ram back to the rebels, the fire was blazing bright and the sky was dark. We cooked it over the fire and salted it, even though Larna and I wished that our portions had stayed raw. We did not want to remind the men of our differences, it would only make them uncomfortable around us.
We sat next to Jerico and his friends while Teb sulked on the other side of the fire, his back partially turned to us. “I do not like that little man,” Larna said, gesturing at him with her head, “but he is right to be suspicious. The Queen is gathering allies. That is why we want to see Jett Bahari. Our pack was attacked by the witch’s dogs and Shadowkin.
Kerak were with them. Mogra and the Queen are building an army.”
“We have heard rumors,” Jerico admitted. “This is very bad news.”
“Then why do you trust us?” Larna asked.
“You seem honest,” he said. “If we were turning away everyone who wanted to join the rebels, we wouldna have an army. You will be questioned by the truth-seekers when we reach camp. Until then, you share our fire as friends.”
…
Tired after our long day of trekking uphill, we put out the fire after we finished eating, leaving only a few glowing embers. We did not fear wild animals. Most of them lived in the Forest, not the mountains themselves.
Apart from the others, Larna and I curled up and slept together, her arms wrapped tight around my waist. “I wish you were naked,” she whispered in my ear, her warm breath tickling the pink shell.
I blushed bright red. “Shhh… be quiet. I don’t want anyone to hear us.”
Larna laughed at the embarrassed look on my face and smiled, but after a few seconds, the smile faded into a look of indecision. “I want to kiss you,” she said by way of explanation.
“Are you asking to kiss me or telling me you want to?”
Larna thought about it for a moment, a worry line creasing her forehead. “Both. I dinna want to embarrass you, just in case anyone is watching us.” I looked over my shoulder, but everyone else seemed to be talking or trying to fall asleep. A few glanced in our direction, but it was dark and with their human eyes, they probably could not see us clearly.
“Larna, my body and heart already belong to you. Do you really think I would say no if you wanted to kiss me?”
“Girls are strange,” Larna protested weakly. “What if I was embarrassing you by accident? Then you would be upset.”
“You’re a girl, too,” I pointed out.
“That is why I know how strange they are.”
I shook my curls away from my face and leaned forward until my nose was touching Larna’s. Her eyes widened, but she did not move away. “So,” I whispered, “have you decided to kiss me? It is dark, they won’t see.”
Wolf's Eye Page 16